If Sengun and Green are good and we hit on the next 2 draft picks, we won’t be this bad. Your point is moot if Sengun is what we think he is.
I view the current hump as being a competitive basketball team. Somewhere around .500 and in the running for a play in spot. The way to get there is to increase the talent level on the Roster and then make sure that the right leadership is on board to take the kids to where they need to be. For me, the talent is kind of the easier of the two things to hit on. The Rockets appear to have 6 or 7 guys who are rotation worthy on a good team who are young and under contract for a number of years. They also have more first round picks coming and are looking at some serious salary cap room in the near future. If KPJ, Green or Sengun turn the corner then there is talent to be competitive as soon as next season or the year after. As for leadership/coaching I havent the first idea. I like the story of bring Sam Cassell back and him having Mario Elie on the bench with him but have no idea if that is something that could or should happen. I think the Rockets need a younger coach with some recent playing experience as I am not sure that they are going to have many roster spots for vets with the amount of young, cheap talent that they have/will have over the next several years. I think veteran leadership is going to have to come from the bench.
Name any top picks that has just walked out the door because the team is losing in the first seasons . There hasn't been a single one maybe with the except of Marvin Bagley whos dad thinks he's under utilized.
The owner is the owner… However it seems like we are setting ourselves for a true rebuild while also maintaining some flexibility with contracts/assets to grab a Jaylen Green type player or even a Harden type player this off-season. I think it’s unlikely we make a major trade, but the FO wants to keep that option available.
Exactly... and in doing so it sort of looks also like Stone doesn't really have a great plan. I just philosophically think that Stone should rip it down to the studs, but we are talking about someone who would claim to have been a big part of the plan to get James Harden... so I think his confidence in being able to strike gold again is a factor here, and something I'm mildly concerned about. I don't think we have nearly enough in the tool belt from a draft pick perspective IMO. There's just going to be waayyyy too much pressure for the 2022 draft pick to be the next great superstar after going through this process in the way we are doing it, with a season that was billed as "we are closer than you think" with some fans, and the org. That's not going to be fair to that poor kid, and he's already going to be the most polarizing Rocket, and he hasn't even declared for the draft yet. Obviously I have Hinkie referenced in my tagline so everyone knows where I stand. Tear it down! Get more picks.
When Jae’Sean Tate learns to shoot he is already the best PG / decision maker on our team ... has good finishing in the paint ... and is more than solid on defense across multiple positions . Once he learns to shoot (to give him better driving opportunities/ fit in better when others are handling the ball) then we will have no option but to get over the hump of horridity into mediocrity... or trade him for picks . we should be on an upward trajectory starting next year . If we don’t take significant steps by the year after (23-24) we should clean house in terms of GM and HC .
Development, better players, and players that fit together. Porter, Green, and Tate don't shoot the three well enough to play together. Rockets starters don't play defense. I think losing has taken its toll on the team and is making things worse. Hard to judge a coach on a team not setup to succeed presently.
Among these 3, Green is the only "passable" starter right now. Tate is a role player. Porter isn't a PG. Rockets need a true PG.
I think ripping "down to the studs" isn't as easy as it seems or as quickly with it being barely less than a full year removed from trading Harden. Our cap situation and roster was geared for compete at all costs. I don't think we have enough capital to trade for a Luka level star, but potentially a top 20 player. Let's not forget, Harden became superstar Harden under the Rockets as what he became vastly exceeded what we traded for. I realize "flexibility" is a dirty word around here but I find that more prudent than being at one of the extremes, especially since being bad isn't reward as it was 5 or 10 years ago. I am certainly on team rebuild, but I think we should be predatory with players like Jaylen Green or Mikal Bridges ( just as examples).
By hump you mean be a good team? My timetable is in ultra slow motion compared to many people expectations. 2022 - Little to no sign of improvement. Mild strides in development and team chemistry. 2023 - More development. More roster adjustments. Still bad. 2024 - First chance at being .500 2025 and beyond - At least this long to even consider being good. Depends on how well our draft assets have materialized into plus players.
